Initial COVID-19 vaccine shots administered Tuesday to Gundersen Clinic physicians in La Crosse

Posted: Tue, Dec 22, 2020 8:53 AM

Initial COVID-19 vaccinations were given Tuesday morning to Gundersen Health System staff in La Crosse.

The La Crosse vaccinations are being held as Gundersen medical staff in Decorah are preparing for their own vaccinations. The local vaccinations are being coordinated by Winneshiek County Public Health. Public Health Director Krista Vanden Brink says health workers at the Gundersen Decorah Clinic and at Winneshiek Medical Center will be the first to get the vaccine.

Vanden Brink says the vaccine which will be used in Winneshiek County will be the Moderna vaccine and perhaps, at a later date, the vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and from Astra-Zeneca. The Pfizer vaccine will not be given in Winneshiek County initially because the vaccine requires being kept at super-cold temperatures and such facilities are not available locally. The Moderna vaccine is easier to store, as is expected to be the case with the Johnson & Johnson and Asta-Zeneca vaccines.